Welcome to the June issue of 'The Word on the Street'. This is your monthly news and information from Spain provided by Ábaco Advisers. We hope to keep you in touch with the news, events and just a little bit of gossip.

Questions about buying or selling in Spain? Let’s chat

If you have questions to ask about buying or selling property in Spain – who should you ask? There are so many people with vested interests that it can be hard to know who will give you a straight answer. Nor do you want to be held in a call centre queue, paying premium rate. That’s where our new LiveChat service can come in. In this article we explain how it works and invite you to use it:

It’s been proposed that Corvera airport (if it ever manages to open) should be called ‘Aeropuerto Internacional de Murcia – Juan de la Cierva Codrniú’. Try saying that to the taxi driver taking you there! Murcia Today has a nice little write up about it:

Don Quixote is very much running through the veins of Spain and you will find references to the book in many places. If you haven’t already read it, pick up a copy of an abridged version at least. Like most classics, you will find yourself wondering who are the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in your circle of friends.

Spain tops Erasmus choice

Erasmus is a European Union student exchange programme in which 33 different countries take part and 4,000 higher education institutions. Spain is a particularly popular venue with many European students choosing one of the universities here. In this article we’ve written about Spain’s high-level of involvement:

In several parts of Spain you can find homes carved into the mountain side. They provide the perfect respite from the heat and are relatively warm in winter. You might not want to go as far as buying your own but what about staying in one for a holiday?

Murcia Today tells us about a rather interesting project near Granada:

The summer is the time when the Moors and Christians processions takes place. This is a vibrant and popular festival that is well worth seeing at least once when you’re in Spain. Our article has a few tips for how to make the most of it:

It’s a useful calender of events to keep handy, especially if you have visitors and live in the Costa Blanca or Costa Calida.

What a tolerant country

It’s a good news item which reaffirms that overall Spain is a tolerant country. Or at least the majority of its people are. When it comes to attitudes to Europe, homosexuality and foreigners, the country comes out well in a number of surveys.

From what’s reported here and our own experience, the absence of a right-wing popularist stronghold certainly benefits those of us with different backgrounds. Long may it continue:

Have you bought anything recently from Zara? This hugely successful fashion store has contributed substantially to the fortune of its founder, Amancio Ortega. However, this extraordinarily rich family are also renowned for protecting their privacy. So it is interesting to come across a little bit of an insider’s view into what’s going on in the Ortega household:

t’s that time of year again when your property in Spain is likely to be in high demand and the washing machine does overtime in preparing the bed linen for the next round of holiday makers. It’s lovely to see them but it definitely has an impact on your time and your money. Money Saver Spain offers some ways in which you can entertain your guests whilst not breaking into the piggy bank:

As the talks between the UK and EU are underway at last we’re beginning to see some plans emerging for those who are resident in Spain. This article in The Local notes that there is some good news in relation to pensions and health care; the two areas that many expats have had concerns about most. Talks are still in the early stages, but there could be some grounds for optimism here:

The longest day of the year has come and gone and so too have the bonfires that are used to celebrate the San Juan festivities in many parts of Spain. On the evening of the 23rd it’s traditional to take to the beaches (if you have one locally of course) and prepare to watch the sun rise. Some people go to great lengths to mark the occasion setting out their dining tables, chairs and cutlery for the long night ahead.

The tradition goes that you build your bonfire and jump over the flames to purge yourself of the bad things of the past and then you bathe in the sea. It’s an evening that is surprising perhaps in its relative level of safety and harmony and certainly the dip in the sea is very welcome.

Some neighbourhoods have their own celebrations and might have their own effigy to burn in the spirit of Las Fallas in Valencia. Alicante is well-known for its evening of celeberation, with many young people continuing onto the beach until the morning.

In Alicante you can get a sense of the popularity of the event and the elaborate nature of the effigies from the pictures and information on this site: